London - Bob Diamond, co-founder of Atlas Mara, is weighing
options including taking the sub-Saharan African bank acquirer private, people
with knowledge of the plan said.
One option being considered
is to find an investor or private-equity vehicle to back such a move, one of
the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private. A
merger with another financial institution with a presence in Africa
is also being weighed, the people said, adding that discussions are at a very
early stage and no final decision has been made. A spokesman for Atlas Mara declined
to comment.
Diamond, a former Barclays CEO,
is looking for ways to revive confidence in Atlas Mara, which has lost about 80
percent of its value since selling shares to the public more than three years
ago to buy up stakes in African banks. The company has a current market value
of about $153 million. Its biggest asset, a stake of more than 31 percent in
Union Bank of Nigeria,
has exposed Atlas Mara to growing bad debts and a currency devaluation, which
may complicate a transaction.
Atlas Mara began a
cost-cutting exercise in 2016 as expenses engulfed income and threatened its
ability to grow by acquisition. With operations in seven African countries, the
firm needs five to seven years to build its business on the continent, Diamond
said in an interview in September.
Read also: Currency hits Diamond's Atlas Mara
It comes as Abraaj Group,
the private-equity firm that invests across emerging markets, said on Tuesday
that it’s interested in buying a stake in Barclays’s South African business.
Other investor groups have also expressed an interest in building a stake in
the business. Public Investment Corporporation, the South African administrator
of the bulk of the government’s pension-fund money, was looking to form a group
made up of black shareholders to buy a stake, while Diamond had also publicly
expressed interest.
Atlas Mara gained as much as
4.6 percent in London trading and was up 2.3
percent to $2.25 at 11:05 a.m. in London
trading.
BLOOMBERG